Chapter 87 Mute
Under the starlight, the cold wind gradually blows into the night.

Zhang Yunqi drove Chu Jian through the alleys brightly lit by street lights.

Along the way, the two kept chatting.

They talked a lot when they first met, which was unusual. It was the most Zhang Yunqi had ever said since he met her. In fact, girls like her like to keep many things in their hearts, which puts too much burden on themselves. It's good to pour it out.

Arriving at the Hongshan Road shantytown, Zhang Yunqi did not stop the car far from Chu Jian's house and let her walk back like he did the previous two times. Instead, he pedaled directly to her doorstep, then turned around and smiled at Chu Jian, "I'm thirsty. Can I go to your house for a cup of tea?"

After hesitating for a moment, Chu Jian nodded and said yes.

Zhang Yunqi parked his bicycle and walked into her family's three low-rise tiled houses with Chu Jian.

Pushing open the rusty wooden door, what came into Zhang Yunqi's eyes was the peeling gray-white wall, with dark red bricks exposed in many places. A light bulb was hung on the beam covered with spider webs, and the light was dim. There was a wooden table, an old-fashioned cupboard, and three benches in the room. Although there were few pieces of furniture, it gave people a feeling of crowding and depression.

Not long after the two entered the room, a woman walked out of the bedroom on the side. She was dressed like a rural woman and seemed to have just woken up. Her hair was a little messy, and she was thin but tall. There were many wrinkles on her shriveled face, but the outline was soft and beautiful. She looked somewhat similar to the first time they met, and it seemed that she must have been very beautiful when she was young.

Chu Jian introduced Zhang Yunqi and said, "This is my mother."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "Hello, Auntie."

At first glance, the mother was a very nice person. When she saw her daughter bringing her male classmate back, she did not immediately put up a cordon like other parents would. She smiled at Zhang Yunqi on the surface, but secretly betrayed him.

She brought a pot of tea and a bag of dried sweet potato strips to Zhang Yunqi, and while making gestures, she made a series of "Ahhhh..." sounds from her mouth.

Zhang Yunqi was a little confused.

Chu Jian explained, "My mother is mute. She meant to say thank you for sending me back. There's nothing delicious at home. You should eat some sweet potato noodles first. It's so late, you must be hungry. She said she would make noodles for us."

Zhang Yunqi quickly took the sweet potato strips and said, "No, it's too much trouble, Auntie. I'm not hungry, really not hungry, I just want to eat dried sweet potatoes."

When he first saw his mother, she made gestures and said a few words. Zhang Yunqi had no idea what she was saying, but he could not stop her enthusiasm. He watched her run to the next room and start making noodles with a smile on her face.

She made two bowls of noodles, one small and one large. She gave the small one to her daughter Chujian and the large one to Zhang Yunqi, and she also specially beat two eggs into it.

The noodles didn't taste that good actually, the soup was watery. Zhang Yunqi wasn't hungry, but he still made himself look like he was eating with gusto. It was a bit hypocritical, but it was a common trait among Chinese people after all.

Seeing that Chujian was only eating a bowl of clear soup noodles, Zhang Yunqi put a fried egg into Chujian's bowl and said with a smile: "By the way, Chujian, what does your mother do?"

Chu Jian whispered, "My mother doesn't have a job, and no employer wants her. She usually picks up waste on the street and sells it for money."

Zhang Yunqi did not respond.

He didn't see Chu Jian's father or other relatives. He wanted to ask some questions, but given the difficult situation at Chu Jian's home, he felt that no matter what he asked, the relaxed atmosphere would become solemn again, or even bring back unpleasant memories of Chu Jian.

Looking at this bare house, the unfriendly nature of life and the cruelty of reality are fully reflected in this strong girl.

After finishing a bowl of noodles, Zhang Yunqi prepared to go home.

It was already late, and Chu Jian's mother had already gone back to her room to sleep after cooking noodles for them. Chu Jian stood up and said to Zhang Yunqi, "I'll take you there."

The two of them went out and came to the dilapidated road. Zhang Yunqi took out the band-aid from his pocket, stuffed it into Chu Jian's hand and said, "Remember to put a band-aid on the wound on your finger later. It won't look good if you leave a scar. You must learn to take good care of yourself in the future. Next time you encounter something unhappy, don't force yourself to tell me. Be careful when you go to work in a small restaurant in the future. The boss lady has such a bad attitude. If you can, you'd better not go."

She was stunned when she first saw the boy in front of her, and suddenly she couldn't speak, but she felt warm in her heart, as if a warm current was flowing through her body.

"Why are you standing there like an idiot? I'm going back." Zhang Yunqi smiled and pushed his bicycle out, then jumped on it and pedaled away.

Chu Jian waved his hand quickly: "Yunqi, you need to slow down and pay attention to safety."

Zhang Yunqi waved his hand and said, "Okay, you should go to bed early." He rode his bicycle at full speed all the way. When he got home, it was almost midnight. Living alone in such a big house and his chickens had holidays every day, it was quite boring.

After taking a hot bath, Zhang Yunqi took a stack of 4A paper in the study and sketched the decoration plan of the Qifengdu fish meal shop. He also thought about the name of the fish meal shop, the door design, some rules and regulations for opening a noodle shop, registered trademarks and other matters.

There are storefronts available for rent.

The various shops in front of the No. 1 Middle School in the city would go bankrupt every now and then due to poor business. Zhang Yunqi had studied at the No. 1 Middle School for a semester. At least one-third of the shops on the snack street in front of the school gate had changed their signs. In the past two days, he had also taken a fancy to several vacant storefronts and was just about to discuss with the owners how to rent them.

The Qifengdu Fish Meal Shop will be handed over to the eldest brother Zhang Yunfeng in the future. However, as a farmer, the eldest brother will definitely not be able to handle all the preparatory work in the early stage. Zhang Yunqi has to help the eldest brother lay a solid foundation. According to his idea, if it can be built smoothly, it can be made into the first model store of the future chain store.

Actually, this thing is simple to say, just rent a storefront and sell noodles. Anyone with no idiot can do it. But if you want to do it well and expand it, and develop it on a large scale and with its own characteristics, that is really not easy. Fortunately, he has opened a restaurant before and has relatively rich experience in the catering industry, so it is relatively smooth to do.

It was past one in the morning when he came up with a preliminary plan and then went to bed.

Have a good night's sleep.

Early the next morning, Zhang Yunqi went to school as usual.

After the second Chinese class in the morning, he found the class monitor Lin Yueying and asked her for the information sheet of his classmates.

Shortly after the start of the school year, a few days ago, the classmates filled out a student information form. Before Lin Yueying submitted it to her class teacher Jiang Lihua, she gave the form to Zhang Yunqi. Zhang Yunqi took a look at the form and found the column for first meeting. The contact person was her mother's name, Jiang Feng.

After lunch, he called his elder sister Zhang Qiulan in the dormitory.

We were talking about the recent sales of handheld game consoles. The school term has just started and all the students are wealthy, so the handheld game console business is booming. My eldest sister now has 32 retailers on hand, with daily sales exceeding 13 units. At this rate, she will be able to sell units this month, with total sales of around . However, it will probably be relatively difficult next month.

Zhang Yunqi couldn't help but think of Boss Yu Lin, this was a big piece of fat meat.

It’s been so long, I guess Yu Lin will look for him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunqi said to her elder sister: "Business is so good now, you can't handle it alone, right?"

This question is not easy for Zhang Qiulan to answer.

Now she is responsible for connecting with 32 retailers, delivering goods, answering order calls, recording daily sales data sheets, etc. It's not that she is too busy to handle it alone, but it has completely squeezed her life time. She is busy from morning to night every day and has no time to take care of her children at night. She often abandons her job to communicate with retailers about ordering. Sometimes she cannot find time to go to the market even when she wants to.

However, Zhang Yunqi is not only her brother, but also her boss. Although Zhang Qiulan has little education, after six months of experience, she gradually understands that some problems encountered at work need to be solved by herself. For example, the last time the owner of the convenience store in No. 2 Middle School did not pay for the goods, it was her fault, and she should have found a way to get the money back.

Besides, Zhang Qiulan was very satisfied with the compensation her brother gave her. It didn't matter if she was a little tired. She said, "It's okay. It's a bit busy, but it's okay. Just focus on your studies."

Zhang Yunqi heard the hidden meaning and said with a smile: "No, sister, if you are too busy, I have someone here who can help you deliver the goods."

Zhang Qiulan was startled, then immediately became happy: "Where is he now?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "This person is the mother of one of my classmates. Her name is Jiang Feng. She lives in the shantytown on Hongshan Road and is mute."

Zhang Qiulan was stunned: "Mute, mute?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Yes, she is mute, but don't let her do things like dealing with retailers. She can only deliver goods to designated locations. This is very simple and shouldn't be a big problem. But you should still keep her company for a while. If she really can't do it, tell me then."

Zhang Qiulan asked: "How much is the salary?"

Zhang Yunqi offered to pay her 300 yuan a month. After thinking for a while, he added, "Give her an advance of 600 yuan to offset her salary for the first two months."

　Fate is something that cannot be stopped once it happens. Today is Valentine's Day. I met my blind date at noon and met her again in the evening. She asked me for 30 yuan during the day, but only 300 yuan for Valentine's Day in the evening. I saved 299700 yuan in a few hours... However, when I thought of the tens of millions of loyal book friends who were waiting for my updates with collection recommendations and rewards, I resolutely said "Puh" to her:
　　I won’t even give you 300 yuan!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)